Romanesque and Islamic

 Romanesque and Islamic 

September 21, 2023

Romanesque 

The Romanesque period is defined by Italy and France around the time of 800 AD. This specific art and architecture style was influenced by much of Roman literatures and the new technology being created at this time. Some events that took place during this time such as the mass amounts of churches being built and the religious awakening durning this time were crucial to the development of this style. 




One design element that was developed and used frequently throughout many churches during the Romanesque period was different types of vaults. There were four specific vaults that were used such as; barrel vault, groin vault, rib vault and fan vault. Pictured above is a picture from one of the Romanesque churches and how ribbed vaults look from the interior. Some other characteristics of the Romanesque churches were the development of the floor plans. Instead of one main isle leading through the main axis of the churches interior, Romanesque churches usually added additional isles on the side to provide more circulation space and more windows to illuminate and brighten up the interior of the church. 

Moving on to residential design of the Romanesque period- houses were rather simple, being made out of wood and mud with dirt floors, the Romanesque residential design was ineffective. The middle class usually had these kind of houses that lead to much sickness throughout this time due to the constantly damp and cold conditions of these houses. However, the rich and nobility had stone houses/castles that were build for them. As you can see in the image to the right the houses had little to no sunlight penetrating through openings, which was another factor to why the houses were dark and cold. 

Modern Applications:


The Picture above is a modern take on the romanesque style. Some characteristics that are similar in this room to the Romanesque style is the the barrel vault you can see through the hallway. Another characteristic is the exposed brick in the barrel vault as well. This characteristics of exposed brick would be seen in many homes and churches because one of the main materials used during this time was stone, brick, and wood. 

Islamic 

During the Islamic period, much like the Romanesque period there was a main theme of religion. The leader of the Islamic religion is Mohammed, who lived from 570-632 C.E. This style encompassed most of Africa, Europe, and Asia. The name of the type of churches build from the Islamic style were known as Mosques. Mosques were a huge part of Islamic Architecture because the purpose of these buildings were for people to come and kneel and pray toward the direction of Mecca (according to the Islamic religion). 

The image to the right is a famous Mosque build during the Islamic periods. The Mosques name is Great Mosque of Cordoba. This picture is an image of the prayer hall that is sectioned off in a grid like pattern to show people where their spots are to pray. Islamic structures also used many arches throughout their interiors. The three types of arches used during the Islamic period were, horseshoe, ogival, and muqarnas filled niche arches. The average Mosque interior would be oriented with a perimeter wall, covered hall of columns, and a courtyard of some sort. Many of these mosques were also decorated with a great deal of color which is out of the ordinary for this time period. 

Another characteristic of Islamic design was the use of tiles. The image to the left is an example of a muqarnas filled niche arch. These kind of arches were carved out with many decorative holes that were filled with many hand pained tiles. The use of turquiose and many other colors were often used in these buildings. Many of these arch niches are used for a decorative experience in different kinds of arches and intents in the interior of the building.






Modern Applicaitons:

In this modern application picture you can see the use of horse shoe arches used throughout this interior. Horse shoe arches are the arches used on each side of the wall and they a named this way because they are shaped like a horse shoe. 
Another characteristic is the tile design seen placed in the arches. Many times in Islamic design you will see tile placed in the arches. 
The tile seen here is a popular style seen used in many residential designs today. The decorative tile shares characteristics with the Islamic design, however the tile has been modernized and now uses colors that are not as vibrant as before. The patterns seen in these tiles are fairly similar to the patterns that were first used in the Islamic period as well.

























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